Get a wide graduated cylinder, weigh out a small bit and fill 'er up. Then put a light weight on top and measure. Do a little dimensional analysis and you should have ball park figure. Otherwise just put it in a already light garment and not worry too much (like a down vest)!

Ues, I remember them well. I made a few kits back in the early/mid70's. 2 Down Jackets, down booties and 60/40 Mountain Jacket.That's all I can remember now. I had a LOT more time than moneyin those Student days and a real desire to get up into the SierraNevada.If I remember right the kits worked out to about half the cost ofbuying Sierra Designs etc. retail. Retail was all there was in those days, no discount houses.Those down tubes worked well enough but I still had feathers floating around the house afterword. The tubew were meant to besort of stuffed into the open baffle section and unrolled pushingthe down into each section.

Those kits bring back memories from ~40 years ago. Like Larry I also made a 60/40 parka, a day pack, a sleeping bag, perhaps other items. The sleeping bag used 23 down packets labeled nos. 10 through 48. Unfortunately, there is no indication of the fill power in the assembly booklet. Your estimate of 500 f.p. is probably good. As I recall, down was just down back in those days and there was little talk of fill power.

Your math looks good to me.

It is possible that I have a Frostline catalog tucked away deeply in the garage. If I can find it and it has fill power specs I will get back to you.

I made two external frame backpacks from kits that I got fromA-16 when they were out in east san diego county at an airfield.Aluminum tube and copper plumbing connectors pop riveted togetherand sew up the pack bags from nylon fabric and paper patterns.i couldn't afford Sierra Designs stuff but found a source for cheapbut warm Down Sleeping Bags from New Zealand. Arthur Ellis and Co. IIIRC. "Fairy Down" Sleeping bags supposedly supplied to EdmundHillary Expeditions to Everest. The bags weighed about 5 lb but Icouldn't afford the $95-100 for a Sierra Designs bag. The NZ bags cost about $35 ea shipped.This was back in the Colin Fletcher days.When my wife and I would start a week long backpack I'd be carryingabout 45 lbs and the wife would have about 35 lbs at the Trailhead.When I start my hike at the Crazy Cook Monument in 3 weeks I'll becarrying right at 31 lbs. including 5 qts. of water.Things have changed a little. {:>)

Friend of mine sewed a frostline jacket and a couple other kits. Their down was advertised at the time as 550 fill power. I studied those Frostline catalogs pretty assiduously at the time, as well as Holubar, REI, EMS, Gerry, all the classics.Anyone else remember the Holubar "Paragon Incalescent" parka?

"Wow, lucky day! I found the 1974 catalog which talks about "highest quality of down" and "prime northern goose down". There is no mention of the fill power, however.

At that time you could buy pre-packaged down, packet #6 containing 3/8 ounce of down for 67 cents. There is no packet #9 so that small mystery is solved. 3/8 ounce is about 10.6 gm, not 12 gm, probably close enough.

Some trivia about their down packaging: "in use until last year" (1973 apparently)they packaged the down in Pellon packets "a porous paper-like material stitched together and stitched closed at each end". They moved on to experimenting with(not sure if they actually used in production) "a soluble plastic called polyvinyl alcohol film...(which) worked well when proper washing techniques were followed (but) we found that the residue which was left behind coated some of the down pods, reducing their loft..." "Finally, we arrived back where we started: With a new plastic packet...It has a flip-top closure..."

More than you ever wanted to know about Frostline down. It will probably give you nightmares.

Me and three buddies all had Fairy bags, various models. I had the cheapest; cotton shell and lining, no zip, duck down. Nice bag. Those bags were stuffed with down - serious overfill. Pretty exciting as a 12-year old to get a package from New Zealand with my first down bag.

FWIW, I made a bunch of stuff from their catalog, including a couple sleeping bags for my sister and I, a Skyline tent (a modified a-frame with a fly sheet that rolled up to attach to a fin atop the peak of the mesh tent body. I still wear my bulky Frostline synthetic fill vest. The front loading external frame pack has disappeared (faded memories of an Alpenlite frame and all the creaking/clicking cotterpins and rings). I seared the edges of many yards of uncoated ripstop. The things I pushed on our sewing machine back in the day amaze me now--back then we could never have imagined a Hello Kitty sewing machine.

All that gear performed for us in the Kings Canyon, Zion, Death Valley, Yosemite, Pine Valley Mtns (UT). The coated nylon stuff sacks and pack cloth went stinky long ago. Things have changed for the better for wheezing, gassy old wannabees like me.

Wow, this thread brings back memories of my parents ordering various kits from Frostline back in the 70s. My sister in law used to work there. Many nights my mom spent on the sewing machine putting all of that together.

When the family XC skied across Michigan from Kalkaska to Empire back in the 70's, to keep us warm at night were the Frost Line down jackets we had made prior to this adventure. The wife and I made four jackets, one sleeping bag liner/summer bag and two pairs of down mitts. Cold winter as I remember in our Gerry Tents, REI cable binding ski's & the home made pulk. At night before "slumbering off" hearing the sap in the conifers snapping was a first indication it was cold outside. A great adventure that all of us remember and did in great style!

When I looked in our "sewing archives" after getting into this thread I found no patterns, but scraps of jacket fabric and two packages of down, grade unknown, because back then down, was down and equated to warmth and Backpacking Light had not been invented.

Used mine just this past weekend - they helped make sure my feet stayed warm since the temps dropped below the capability of my bag. Thanks to Frostline I learned how to sew back in the 70s. I had a vest at one time but it's long gone. If someone still made kits like these I would probably buy them.

I was a college student and my Mom and I made a sleeping bag from Frostline working together. I would read the directions get the pieces pined together or whatever and then she would sew it up. I learned how to sew then and have been enjoying it ever since. Unfortunately, the bag didn't last long. I was a camp counselor and kids from a rival cabin trashed our cabin. My down bag ended up on top of the floor furnace and caught fire! Somebody found it and put the fire out before any damage was done to the rest of the cabin. But my bag was toast. This was a Winter camp in Southern California mountains and pretty cold at night. I found out how useless a Space Blanket was that night. After a while, I grabed everyone's jackets and made a nest for the night. Ah good times! - Scott